In 105 AD, Cai Lun, a court official during the Eastern Han dynasty in China, presented a refined and standardized method of papermaking to the emperor. By mixing mulberry bark, hemp, old rags, and fishing nets with water, he created a new, inexpensive, and high-quality paper that could be mass-produced. This innovation is considered one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China.

The widespread availability of paper revolutionized Chinese literary culture, allowing for the flourishing of poetry and the creation of vast literary canons. It enabled poets like Li Bai and Du Fu to write and circulate their works more easily, and paper became an integral subject in Chinese poetry itself, symbolizing the fragility and permanence of the written word. The technology would eventually travel to the Islamic world and Europe, transforming global literary production.